Immigrants in the United States: Important Contributors to the Economy

Imagine a day where you have to think twice before spending money on a ten dollar pack of lettuce, or when you have to fight for the last dozen of apples in the grocery store. Perhaps you will only be allowed to purchase a small amount of vegetables or in worse cases stand in line for hours, waiting for the next shipment of imported fruits and vegetables to arrive from Southeast Asia. This would be all too real if the United States lost its immigrant workers. The United States has become increasingly dependent on immigrant workers in terms of low wage jobs. In some sectors of the economy such as agriculture or other low wage services, the reliance on immigrant workers is so immense that entire industries would suffer severe economic losses if these workers were to leave. However, many citizens of the United States, particularly those who hold anti immigrant views, are not able to understand this situation due to their reluctance to consider the issue with an open mind. These individuals have the mentality that immigrants are detrimental to the United States economy as they take up jobs that should belong to native born United States citizens, and that immigrants place burdens on the infrastructure and resources available in the United States.   Although many people believe that immigrants pose a threat to the United States economy, the underlying reality is that the contributions of immigrants outweigh the financial burdens they create, which strengthens the growth of the economy.
Many individuals in the United States perceive immigrants as leeches and a strain to the United States economy. According to a Gallup poll conducted in August 2009, 50 percent of Americans believe that immigration should be decreased because the United States cannot sustain the financial burden that immigrants pose in difficult economic times (Morales). This represents a significantly large portion of the United States population who believe that immigrants have a negative effect on the...